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Bishopric of Constance
The Bishopric of Constance was a Roman Catholic diocese based in Constance (German: Konstanz) in far southern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The early Bishopric Christianity was introduced to Constance sometime around the end of the 2nd Century or the beginning of the 3rd Century by Roman legionaries. A diocese was later erected at Windisch at an unknown date. Bishops of Windisch are known to have attended synods in 517, 535, 541 and 549. No further mention of the diocese is made after 549, and it is assumed that sometime between that date and 585 the diocese was split into one at Avenches and another at Constance. Maximus and Rudolph I are listed as the first two bishops of the diocese although nothing more than their names has been preserved. After the death of Gaudentius in 613, the diocese was offered to St Gall, who rejected the offer and instead nominated his disciple John I. During the 7th Century, the borders of the diocese were defined. The border extended northward along the Iller River until it flowed into the Danube, then turned northwest past Schwäbisch Gmünd and the Neckar, north of Marbach, then turned southwest to the Rhine which it reached south of Breisach. The border then followed the Rhine until the Aare, then up the Aare to the St Gotthard where it cut northeastwards across the modern Canton of St Gall to the source of the Iller. The surrounding dioceses were those at Augsburg, Würzburg (from 742), Speyer, Strasbourg, Basel, Lausanne and Chur. Constance was suffragan to Besançon until it was made suffragan to Mainz in 747. Constance was the largest diocese in both population and area in Germany during the entire Middle Ages. The later diocese During the 8th and 9th Centuries, the bishops began infringing on the rights of the Abbeys of St Gall and Reichanau, and often united the abbatial and episcopal seats. Bishop Sidonius (748 - 760) was instrumental in the deposition of the St Gallian abbot St Othmar in 758/9. Bishop Solomon III of Ramschwag (891 - 920), a former Imperial Chancellor, was well-loved as bishop and abbot of Reichenau and St Gall. St Conrad I of Altdorf (934 - 975) was kind to the poor, made three pilgrimages to the Holy Land and built new churches and renovated old ones. After his canonisation in 1123, he was made the patron saint of the diocese. St Gebhard II (980 - 995) founded the Abbey of Petershausen in 983. He was canonised shortly after his death and was made the patron saint of the city of Constance. During the Investiture Controversy, the diocese was occupied by Otto I of Hierheim (1071 - 1086) who supported the Emperor Henry IV and took part in the deposition of Pope Gregory VII at the Synod of Worms in 1076. For this he was excommunicated. His successor Gebhard III of Zahringen (1084 - 1110) was a strong supporter of Papal rights against the Emperor. Pope Urban II named him vicar apostolic over Germany, he consecrated the rebuilt cathedral in 1089, held a synod in 1094 at which church reforms were undertaken, and in 1095 lifted the emperor from excommunication with the papal support. The bishops became princes of the Empire in the 12th Century. During the disputes between the popes and the Emperors Frederick I and Frederick II, the bishops sided with the emperors until Henry I of Waldburg-Thann (1233 - 1248) joined the papal camp in 1246. Rudolph IV of Montfort-Feldkirch (1322 - 1334) supported Pope John XXII against the Emperor Louis IV until 1332 when he joined the Imperial side. His successor Nicholas I of Kreutzlingen (1334 - 1344) supported the Pope. The Council of Constance was held between 1414 and 1418. The diocese began to decline during the Reformation. Zwinglianism was quickly adopted by the Swiss cantons of Zürich, Berne, St Gall, Schaffhausen and Thurgau. They were followed by the Imperial City of Constance in 1526 and the Duchy of Württemberg in 1534. The Margraviate of Baden followed in 1556 although Catholicism was restored in 1571. From 1526 the Bishops resided in Meersberg. Catholicism was slowly restored to the city of Constance following its capture by the Austrians in 1548. In 1802 the secular territory of the bishopric was annexed by Baden and Switzerland. In 1814 the territory of the diocese in Switzerland was detached and was eventually added to the Bishopric of Basel. In 1817 the territory in Bavaria was given to the diocese at Augsburg and the territory in Württemberg was given to the Vicar-General of Ellwangen-Rottenburg. Pope Pius VII dissolved the remaining diocese in 1821 and attached it to the newly established Archbishopric of Freiburg. See Also: *List of Bishops of Constance Category:Roman Catholic dioceses Category:Diocese of Constance